A lord or nobleman; the most general title of nobility in England. 1 BL Comm. 398, 399. A particular degree or title of nobility, next to a viscount. A judge of the court of exchequer. 3 BL Comm. 44; Cowell. A freeman. Co. Litt. 58a. Also a vassal holding directly from the king. A husband; occurring in this sense in the phrase “baron et feme,” husband and wife. Baron and feme. Husband and wife. A wife being under the protection and influence of her baron, lord, or husband, is styled a “feme covert,” (foemina viro cooperta,) and her state of marriage is called her “coverture.” Cummings v. Everett, 82 Me. 260, 19 Atl. 456. Barons of the cinque ports. Members or parliament from these ports, viz.: Sandwich, Romney, Hastings, Hythe, and Dover. Win chelsea and Rye have been added. Barons of the exchequer. The six judges of the court of exchequer in England, of whom one is styled the “chief baron;” answering to the justices and chief justice of other courts.
Law Dictionary – Alternative Legal Definition
This word has but one signification in American law, namely, husband: we use baron and feme, for husband and wife. And in this sense it is going out of use. 2. In England, and perhaps some other countries, baron is a title of honor; it is the first degree of nobility below a viscount. Vide Com. Dig. Baron and Feme; Bac. Ab. Baron and Feme; and the articles. Husband; Marriage; Wife. 3. In the laws of the middle ages, baron or bers, (baro) signifies a great vassal; lord of a fief and tenant immediately from the king: and the words baronage, barnage and berner, signify collectively the vassals composing the court of the king; as Le roi et son barnage, The king and his court.